vercel/ai · error · LoadSettingError

${description} setting is missing. Pass it using the '${sett

Error message

${description} setting is missing. Pass it using the '${settingName}' parameter. Environment variables are not supported in this environment.

What it means

loadSetting could not resolve a required setting: no value was passed via the named parameter and `process` is undefined, so environment variables cannot be read. It throws LoadSettingError instructing you to pass the setting explicitly.

Source

Thrown at packages/provider-utils/src/load-setting.ts:34

  description,
}: {
  settingValue: string | undefined;
  environmentVariableName: string;
  settingName: string;
  description: string;
}): string {
  if (typeof settingValue === 'string') {
    return settingValue;
  }

  if (settingValue != null) {
    throw new LoadSettingError({
      message: `${description} setting must be a string.`,
    });
  }

  if (typeof process === 'undefined') {
    throw new LoadSettingError({
      message:
        `${description} setting is missing. ` +
        `Pass it using the '${settingName}' parameter. ` +
        `Environment variables are not supported in this environment.`,
    });
  }

  settingValue = process.env[environmentVariableName];

  if (settingValue == null) {
    throw new LoadSettingError({
      message:
        `${description} setting is missing. ` +
        `Pass it using the '${settingName}' parameter ` +
        `or the ${environmentVariableName} environment variable.`,
    });
  }

View on GitHub (pinned to 69428b1f8b)

Solutions

Pass the setting explicitly: createAmazonBedrock({ region: env.AWS_REGION })
Forward platform env bindings into the factory call in edge/serverless code
Enable Node.js runtime compatibility if available
Move provider creation into a server-side module where env access exists

Example fix

// before (edge runtime)
const bedrock = createAmazonBedrock();
// after
const bedrock = createAmazonBedrock({ region: env.AWS_REGION });

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if (typeof process === 'undefined' && !env.AWS_REGION) {
  throw new Error('Pass region explicitly: env vars are unavailable in this runtime');
}
const bedrock = createAmazonBedrock({ region: env.AWS_REGION });

Type guard

function canUseProcessEnv(): boolean {
  return typeof process !== 'undefined' && typeof process.env === 'object';
}

Try / catch

try {
  const bedrock = createAmazonBedrock();
} catch (error) {
  if (/setting is missing/.test(String(error.message))) {
    throw new Error('Set AWS_REGION or pass createAmazonBedrock({ region }) in this runtime');
  }
  throw error;
}

Prevention

Forward platform env bindings explicitly in edge/serverless code
Create providers only in server-side modules where configuration is available
Fail fast at boot if required settings are missing in non-Node runtimes

When it happens

Trigger: Constructing a provider that requires a setting (e.g. createAmazonBedrock() without region) in a runtime without the Node process global (Edge, Workers, browser).

Common situations: Edge deployments where AMZN_REGION-style env vars are unavailable; browser code instantiating a server-oriented provider; workers lacking Node compat.

Understand the failure class

Background: "environment variable is not set" and "Missing keys in environment" errors: what missing required env var messages mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of vercel/ai@69428b1f8b (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/858cc05c98ff80a6. Report an issue: GitHub.